Ideas vs Focus – What will Win You more Business?

We all get ideas… Sometimes way too many of them... Sometimes we shift in different directions because of our ideas and dilute the focus from what we should be doing. There was an entrepreneur that I once watched speak who put it so right:

‘There isn’t a lack of ideas in this world, there is a Lack of Focus.’

So many times I go out networking and meet many business owners from so many walks of life and way too many times hear how they have around 3-5 ventures on the go. This is actually all I hear – I don’t end up focussing on what these ventures are but more so on how many things they have on the go. By the time they have shared the third one I have forgotten the main one they started speaking about first.

Just because you may have 2, 3 or 5 businesses, does not mean you will make 2, 3 or 5 times more revenue.

In fact, I saw this play out in my own experience when I started out in business six years ago. In the first twelve months I tried on many different niches and approaches to business. I suppose I was working out what really sat well with me, but I too was of the mindset that if I got the three things going all at once, somehow I would be better off.

Until the day my mentor at the time said to me: ‘Nat, just pick one thing and focus on that. Go deep and become the expert in that niche and don’t be too precious on anything, change it if its not working.’ This was the most sound advice I received and thus why I am writing todays Blog on this exact topic.

Now that I am another five years wiser since then, I can see those fresh in business and unfortunately those not so fresh making the same mistakes I did – doing too much all at once and not doing anything deep and well at all.

Nowadays I have also become very good at saying ‘no’ to certain opportunities that get presented to me. The more successful you become and the bigger your network grows, the more others will see you as a target to get leverage from. If you are in this position, I advise caution. I used to be a very big ‘Yes’ person, wanting to make everyone happy, doing work and undertaking some projects without any payment and sometimes event losing so much time and money thinking the other party would be integral in there dealing.

I often get approached in a sneaky way by many people in network marketing that come across sleazy and pushy. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate network marketing as I use many products that come from those types of businesses, I just don’t want to run that as my business. I have my business, I have my focus and I have my passion for what I do. I love Ultimate 48 Hour Author and I choose to go deep with that.

How I screen possible opportunities is to ask as many questions as possible and to stalk that person a bit around the internet or on social media. This will usually give me a pretty good idea what they are about. If I don’t have the time, I am straight to the point – just ask – What is this about specifically before I give you my time for a meeting? If they can’t answer that or are being shady I don’t respond or move forward.

So there you go, I trust today’s blog has shed some light on this entrepreneurial journey that shifts and changes so rapidly. I started off writing about ideas and it evolved to being mindful on what opportunities you say ‘yes or no’ to. Have and awesome week ahead and remember – Work Hard – Play Hard!